


Five Times Willie Ran Away and One Time He Didn't

by fairylightsandrainydays



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alex Dancing Appreciation, Alex Mercer Appreciation, Alex Mercer Belongs On a Stage, Angst, Everyone Join the I Hate Caleb Club, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Willie Loves Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:41:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28864227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairylightsandrainydays/pseuds/fairylightsandrainydays
Summary: Alex seems so… confident, so unlike the boy who’d been afraid to even try moving a bench. It’s almost beautiful to watch, the boy suddenly poofing to the middle of a bunch of girls who don't even know he exists, and just… letting go of his thoughts for a few beautiful minutes, twirling and moving like he was born for it.It takes Willie’s breath away.**********A Willex 5+1 fic that I wrote instead of paying attention in physics :)
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters & Willie, Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 142





	Five Times Willie Ran Away and One Time He Didn't

*1* 

Alex seems so… confident, so unlike the boy who’d been afraid to even try moving a bench. It’s almost beautiful to watch, the boy suddenly poofing to the middle of a bunch of girls who don’t even know he exists, and just… letting go of his thoughts for a few beautiful minutes, twirling and moving like he was born for it.

It takes Willie’s breath away.

He isn’t supposed to be here at all, really. He isn’t supposed to be trailing the boys, he isn't supposed to be watching their performances, he definitely isn’t supposed to be falling for one of them.

Alex belongs on stage, Willie can see that from how he moves. The boy hides behind the drums, that’s obvious. He loves drumming, sure, he lets out all his pent-up emotions doing it, just like he’d told Willie in the museum.

When Alex finishes- well, when that girl group, Dirty Candi (what the hell kind of name is that, anyway) finishes- and Julie and the Phantoms are called up onstage, Willie sinks further back into the crowd. It isn’t like anyone but the boys can see him, but then that’s his issue, isn’t it?

He can’t put them at risk by letting them - oh, who’s he kidding, he can’t put Alex at risk by letting him keep in contact with him, and by proxy, Caleb.

He’d just stay for their performance, that’s it. 

And he does. He stays for their show. Lord, that band is good. And that girl Julie, the one with some kind of innate magic, she’s talented. Willie isn’t any kind of musician, unless you can count the sound of his board hitting the ground after a perfect leap music, but even he can tell Julie could sing.

And Jesus, the chemistry between Julie and Luke is so thick, Willie can barely focus on the music.

And Reggie’s there, swapping knowing glances with Alex when Julie and Luke have duets. And… he seems nice? Willie hasn’t really taken the time to get to know any of them save Alex, but according to what he’d been told, Reggie really is very kind.

And then there’s Alex, in the middle of it all but still hiding, just like how he is with the rest of the boys offstage, as far as Willie can see.

There really is something special about that band, he thinks as they finish their set. When the boys vanish from view of the Lifers and reappear behind the stage, to the view of only Julie and Willie, Willie slips out the front door. Best not to have another situation like this morning.

*2*

Okay, this time, he really doesn’t mean to run into Alex. He’s just wandering around the museum screaming, and Alex poofs into existence next to him. So he poofs out. Maybe Alex hadn’t seen him. Maybe he’s okay.

They didn’t have nearly enough time to do anything, really. Time, time, time. Willie’d been going on and on about eternity at the HGC to Alex, but he didn’t know shit for shit about it, really.

He’d died relatively recently, only five years ago, and honestly a skating accident somehow seemed stupider than dying eating bad hot dogs. Like, at least he’d had a choice whether or not to listen to his dad when he’d told him to watch traffic.

Well, he didn’t listen to his dad very often anyway. He’d come out to him a few months before his death and he’d been less than perfect about it. Of course, Willie wasn’t exactly expecting his family to turn into a walking pride parade, but it’d have been nice if they, like… acknowledged his sexuality.

And then he died. So. No hope for that.

Willie doesn’t even realise where he’s poofed into until he hears the sound of a guitar being picked at and three boys arguing over lyrics.

He’s in the loft in the garage where Julie and the Phantoms practice. He didn’t even mean to be there, he just sort of ended up there!

“Okay, if we keep this, and Julie comes in at the melody, ohhh that’ll sound amazing.”

Fuck, that’s Luke. If he’s there, Alex’ll be there, and Alex somehow always manages to notice when Willie’s in the same space as him. 

He grabs his board as quietly as he can and poofs out of the loft and outside the studio, snapping on his helmet when he gets there.

He leans his board against the door of the studio and peeks in the windows. He knows he shouldn’t be doing this, but it’s just for a minute, right?

Well, that was the plan, until freaking Alex looks up and makes eye contact with him. God damnit, that boy has a freaking sixth sense when it comes to Willie.

It was time to go.

*3*

He really should stop doing this. But it seems so… intoxicating? Tempting? There’s something about Alex that Willie can’t resist. Maybe it’s how he never really stops moving, or how he seems wary of trusting people, but he’d trusted Willie, or maybe Willie’s just obsessed.

Alex had poofed out of band practice after he caught Willie the second time. Willie’d managed to evade Caleb, but at this point he really should stop. 

But… Alex.

Jesus, is Willie that obsessed? 

No. No, he isn’t. It was just that Alex’s tick of avoiding looking in people’s eyes is so incredibly cute, and how he manages to always make Willie smile with his cute flustered face, and jesus fuck is Willie in love?

No. No way. No freaking way. Lord, he’s panicking now, isn’t he? Where’s Alex? Alex knows how to calm down from a panic. Wait, he can’t go to Alex, he can’t go anywhere except the HGC and that’s never been his home, not really, and god, Caleb knows how he feels, and Caleb had marked the boys and they must be getting jolts by now and Willie’s scared and he doesn’t know what to do. 

He can’t go to the museum, can’t risk Caleb finding the one place that was his escape from the goddamn HGC, and besides, it reminds him of Alex.

Everything reminds him of Alex.

He should be talking with the drummer boy, he should be making sure he and the guys are okay, he shouldn’t be running from these feelings.

But he can’t, he knows he can’t.

So he poofs to Justin Bieber’s empty pool.

Screw the system and that stupid pop star, anyway, Julie’s band would blow them away when they finally got big.

*4*  
He doesn’t want to let go. He doesn’t want to leave the embrace of this boy who is a ghost and ghosts should be cold but Alex isn’t and he’s warm and he’s holding on to Willie tight and Willie’s blinking tears out of his eyes and swallowing sobs.

They have to go now. Willie’s done all he can, but they’ve got to go. And Alex lets go and he’s staring at Willie with so much pain in his eyes and Willie’s feeling it too but he forces a smile. Alex tells him to go and he will. “I’ll see you around, hot dog.”

It’s only until he’s skated out of sight and hearing of any of the boys that he lets himself break down. It takes him five minutes, but that’s five minutes too much time.

Time for Caleb to find him, find the boys, find out that they definitely aren’t planning on joining the HGC as his band.

So he gets back to that stupid fucking club, because Caleb’s keeping a much closer eye on him than before.

Maybe he’ll be able to sneak out to see Julie and the Phantoms perform at the Orpheum tonight, watch the boys cross over.

*5*  
He’s in the crowd when Alex poofs to the middle of the stage, seemingly not of his own accord. He looks surprised, but he’s playing the drums hard as ever. Caleb’s calling the names of the boys, Reggie’s next, playing his bass with the same reluctance as Alex. Willie knows what Caleb’s doing, he’s done it with Willie before.

He’s using his stupid fucking stamp to control them, just like he uses his stupid fucking stamp to jolt them, and god, it makes Willie mad.

They’re performing for all these Lifers who’ve paid a huge sum of money to get here, and they don’t even belong here. The boys should be at the Orpheum, with Julie. 

He’s watching them from the crowd and is the first to notice when Alex starts to flicker. Of course he is, he hasn’t taken his eyes off the boy since he appeared in a beautiful pink and black number that Willie genuinely thinks looks good on him. If there’s one thing that Caleb’s good for, it’s outfit creation.

But Alex is flickering, and people are noticing, and then Alex poofs out, and Willie knows exactly where he’s going, because Reggie follows soon after. It’s Luke who takes the longest, flickering in and out and staring at someone who isn’t there, who must be Julie, onstage at the Orpheum, because Luke has this incredible longing in his eyes right up until he poofs out for good and Willie desperately wants to follow them, but he can’t and Caleb is freaking out and honestly that’s the only thing that’s good about this whole situation.

But then he turns to Willie with a glare and a silent your fault conveyed across a room of chaos. Willie knows that now, now he has to go now, but Caleb still has a hold on him, and he’s terrified.

He wants to get out.

*+1*  
He’s curled on the floor, his head and knees tucked into his chest as Caleb hits him with jolt after jolt, it’s his punishment for helping the boys escape. His fault.

His fault, his most grievous fault.

He doesn’t expect Caleb to randomly stop his torture to yell at the sky, but that’s exactly what happens. From Willie’s perspective, it’s like Caleb’s being hit with a jolt like the ones he distributed, but much more powerful, like it’s three at once.

Three.

Willie’s only ever witnessed someone break free of Caleb’s mark once, and it almost dissipated them. Caleb wasn’t nearby Willie for him to see that, so he can’t really pass judgement, but Caleb’s distracted, so Willie poofs out as fast as he can. He doesn’t have a set place in mind, but he’s mentally, physically, and emotionally hurt, so he supposes his mind takes over and sends him to wherever he feels safest, because he ends up in Julie’s studio.

He can’t say why he poofed here. It’s empty, as far as he can see, but the door is open. He tries to get up to move, but it’s like the link in between his brain and his legs aren’t working, because he just lies on the floor in front of… something.

It’s big enough to hide behind, and it radiates warmth. Willie focuses his eyes enough to see what it is, and when he recognises the thing, he smiles.

The drum set.

Because of course.

Of course his brain would take him to the place where Alex was just the most Alex he’d ever be, the closest to Alex that Willie can get.

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep, curled in front of the drum set, but he knows that someone is yelling his name and shaking him when he wakes up.

There’s someone pulling him into their arms and rocking him back and forth. He focuses enough to see pink sleeves around him.

Alex?

“Julie, come here, help him, please.”

“I don’t know, Alex, it might only work for you guys.”

“Please.”

Alex’s voice cracks on “please”. At least, Willie thinks it’s Alex. He desperately hopes it’s Alex’s arms he has wrapped around him, Alex’s calloused hand running through his hair.

There’s focus coming back to his eyes, and then there’s a girl kneeling next to Alex and holding her hand out to Willie. Julie.

“Hey, Willie. I don’t think we’ve formerly met. I’m Julie.” That brings a smile to Willie’s face, and he reaches out to take Julie’s hand, even though he knows he’s a ghost, and his hand will just pass through hers.

But… it doesn’t. Julie’s hand grips his like she’s a ghost in and of herself, and then a smile of relief comes to her face and she surges forward to wrap both Alex and Willie in her arms. There’s two other bodies pressing forward too, and Willie knows that they have to be Reggie and Luke, because who else would be able to see him?

Alex’s arms tighten around him and there’s this sudden strange feeling that runs through Willie’s body, like a wash of pure sunshine, like one of Caleb’s jolts but softer, less like a stab and more like a hug.

His vision clears completely, and energy surges through his body, and he can feel some pressure being lifted from his body, but Alex is still there, and Willie turns around and hugs him back just as tight as he’s being hugged.

Vaguely, he hears Luke calling Julie “a reverse ghostbuster! You bring ghosts back to life instead!”

“Luke, I didn’t bring you back to life.”

“Eh, I’ll work on it.”

But none of that matters because Alex lets out a sob and buries his face in Willie’s shoulder. They’re still on the floor, and with as much energy he has running through his veins, Willie just wants to stay here, because what if this is all just a dream, what if this is one of Caleb’s tricks?

But Alex pulls back and runs his thumb over Willie’s cheek and Caleb can’t simulate the feeling in Willie’s chest when Alex looks at him with shining blue eyes. He doesn’t kiss Willie, that’ll come later, but for now, Willie knows exactly where he should be, and for now, that’s right here, in Alex’s arms.

And he doesn’t run, for once. He stays right where he is.

**Author's Note:**

> hiya! thank you so much for reading! i recently got really really into JATP and i knew i just had to write a willex fic  
> i hope you liked this one :)
> 
> kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)
> 
> fair winds,  
> -rainy<3
> 
> ps: A DISCORD SERVER! I HAVE ONE! THAT YOU CAN JOIN! HERES THE LINK:  
> [ Discord! ](https://discord.gg/n72HgZ4r)
> 
> have a good day/night/afternoon <3


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